October 24, 2012 // 9:24 pm - Following up on his Rogero CEX PS3 Custom Firmware (CFW) v4.21 release that bricked many PS3 consoles, PlayStation 3 homebrew developer Rogero has now made available a PS3 Brick-Recovery Procedure from CFW 4.21 back to CFW 3.55 using Rogero PS3 NOR Auto Patcher v0.01 as outlined below.

To quote: Brick-Recovery Procedure from CFW4.21 back to CFW3.55

After Testing with some bricked Slim consoles (from updating to CFW4.21) with different friends and testers around the world, I can confirm that Bricked consoles can be recovered back to CFW3.55 even if you didn't have a NOR Dump/Backup.

Requirements are:

1- A Hardware Flasher so you can read/write to the PS3 NOR flash
2- A Dongle with PSgrade payload (any old jailbreak dongle + PSGrade hex will do) used to Enter Factory Service Mode (FSM)
3- Rogero CEX-3.55 CFW V3.7

Recovery Procedure :

1- Dump the current NOR Flash of the bricked PS3 at least 3 times using a hardware flasher (Progskeet / E3 / TEENSY++)
2- Verify that it is properly dumped and you have a valid dump by comparing your dumps or following these steps: Validating_flash_dumps (via ps3devwiki.com/wiki/Talk:Validating_flash_dumps)
3- Patch the dump using Rogero PS3 NOR Auto Patcher: PS3_Nor_Dump_Auto_Patcher_v0.01.rar
3- Flash the Patched Dump back into the PS3 NOR using the Hardware flasher.
4- From this point you can continue as a normal Downgrade Procedure by entering Factory Service Mode using the dongle and Flashing Rogero CEX-3.55 v3.7 from the USB stick.

Notes:

I didn't receive any Brick report from any FAT PS3 that updated to CFW4.21, so it seems FAT consoles are not being affected by the bug.

Apparently only the last downgradable Slim models are affected (CECH-25xx with Datecode 1A and base FW version = 3.50)

I also know that there are also few Slims that bricked with model CECH-20xx but 90% of the reports were model (CECH-25xx with Datecode 1A and base FW version = 3.50).

The Brick may be caused by the boot-loaders not being written correctly into the NOR during the Update process.

Please note also that all the above info may not be 100% accurate, things are still being worked on so nothing is confirmed at all and I don't promise anything about an updated CFW.

CECH 2504B BRICKABLE Slim

CECH 2501B BRICKABLE Slim

CECH 2501A BRICKABLE Slim

CECH 2511A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2004A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2504A ACCEPTABLE Slim - possible bricks

CECH 2011A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2001A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2104A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH2004B N/A N/A

CECH 2101A ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH 2004B ACCEPTABLE Slim

CECH-2504A BRICKABLE Slim

CECHJ 04 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHL 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHG 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHL 11 ACCEPTABLE N/A

CECHK 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHL 04 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHK 11 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHH 01 ACCEPTABLE Fat

CECHG 04 ACCEPTABLE Fat

Note: This isn't set in stone. Have a hardware flasher or know how to recover even if your console model is acceptable. Make a multiMAN NAND/NOR backup and ensure QA flags are set!!! Hope you have a great time!

I was on rogero 3.55 downgrader... I tried to install rogero 3.55 cfw it gave me an error... I tried to install another cfw ... the ps3 boots but no screen at all ... what can I do ? I tried installing the 3.55 ofw through service mode ... it didn't help either

dont delete the mod installer (Update: delete back up your backup copy first then delete the installer via xmb (triangle))

package manager from xmb isn't working because rogero cfw but normal pkg installer still working fine! (Update: installing packages from xmb now working!!)

HOW TO INSTALL or update:

1- install pkg Mclow mod v0.6
2- go to photo men in the xmb
3- start mclowmod and select fat or slim.. and rogero...... ps3 will restart!
4- AFTER THE RESTART change param.sfo from your applications to change the categories
5- apply mclowslimmod theme
6- you need to edit all applications param.sfo file to show up under the specific category!
7-start the application you chanced the param.sfo once to apply sfo changes

change the target_id of the ps3, that will literally change the PS3's region coding, in reality, PS3 bluray player is regionless and it reads any discs regardless what region the BD/DVD movie is, the only one stopping it is the software.

Also you can just use multiman to temporarily change the blu-ray video region into something what you like until you restart your ps3, this will let you play bd movies without any further complicated software modifications.

Credits to my friend "Swizzy" the well known coder for his many Tools in the Xbox360 scene

How to use:

Drag and Drop any PS3 Nor or Interleaved NAND Dump onto the "PS3_Flash_Tool_v1.0.exe" it will verify the dump, detects its type and patch it accordingly with Rogero CEX_4.46 patches, all this in less then 2 seconds.

v1.00 (initial release)

Merged Swizzy's PS3DumpChecker Tool with Rogero's AutoPatcher v4.46

Both NOR and Nand (Interleaved) Flash Dumps are supported.

Compatible with Win7/8 and windows XP.

Easy operation, just Drag and Drop the Dump over "PS3_Flash_Tool_v1.0.exe".

The dump will be checked to verify all sections are valid.

When a Dump is checked and found Valid it will Proceed to Patch it.

It has 2 operation Modes: Auto and Normal (can be toggled with included Registry Files). Auto Mode: will check the dump and if found valid it will patch it automatically (all in less then 2 seconds). Normal Mode: will check the dump and if found valid it will ask if you want to patch it.